Whenever you connect to a new network in Windows 7, you have to decide what kind of network location you are connecting to. Is the new network a Home, Work or a Public Network ?

The different Location Settings allow or block certain network features or functions. The general rule as Microsoft tells it is that if you know every computer (and user) on the network, use the Home Network Setting, if not choose one of the other. But you may have wondered what are the differences between Home, Work and Public Network Settings, and which network features are switched on or off?